Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
- BSB Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
- NKJV Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
- NASB Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
- NLT Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those who did not sin as Adam did, and Adam prefigures Christ. Adam is a type pointing to the coming Savior.
Overview
Paul observes that death ruled over all between Adam and Moses, proving that all were affected by Adam's sin even without a law to break like his. He then names Adam 'a foreshadowing,' or type, of Christ, the one who was to come. This introduces the central Adam-Christ parallel: as Adam brought death, Christ brings life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Cor 15:45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
- Rom 5:17For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
- Heb 9:27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- Rom 8:22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
- Gen 7:22All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
- Rom 5:21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Gen 19:25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
- Hos 6:7But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
- Jonah 4:11And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
- Rom 8:20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
- Exod 1:22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
- Gen 4:8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
- Gen 5:5–31And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
- Exod 1:6And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
- Exod 12:29–30And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 5:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.